How to Start Living (in the Zombie Apocalypse)

by T. L. Walker

  We heard them first, of course – the strange noises that were somehow neither moans nor cries – but they seemed distant enough, and we were at least halfway back to the others. "Charlie…" Daniel panted, and I could hear the fear in his voice.

  "Shut up and keep going." I lengthened my strides, heard him grunt behind me as he did the same. We just need to get back to the cars, then we can drive a bit farther out, away from these zeds and from that damn school.

  But they seemed to be gaining on us. We would have no choice but to dive into the cars and go, and then it would still be a close call...although at this point we had no choice. If I was judging correctly, the number of zeds after us just now was more than even Daniel, Joey, Lauren, and I could handle together. Maybe if Luke and Mike were well…

  But that didn’t – couldn’t – matter just now. They weren’t, and the best thing for us to do was to get the hell out of here as soon as possible.

  Thankfully, Joey had been smart enough to hole up in the truck. I heard Daniel break away as I dove for my own car. The door was unlocked, and as I shut it behind me I heard the truck engine roar to life. I followed Joey’s lead, not taking even a moment to check on Luke or Mike before glancing over my shoulder and revving my car up the road in reverse. I spun it around, waited a moment to make sure that Joey was following me, and took off.

  "Where’re we going?" Luke mumbled. I reached over and patted the back of his bandaged hand – it was far too hot and dry for my liking, though, and I snatched my own away, fear rising in the back of my throat like bile.

  "I don’t know. Away from here, that’s for damn sure. Daniel and I had some zeds after us just now…we barely outran them."

  "The…oo…"

  "Hush, Luke, you don’t need to talk. I’ll figure something out; I always do."

  "Nnn…no. Go…go to…zoo."

  He’d put too much emphasis on the last word for me to mistake it for anything else. At first I’d thought he’d been exclaiming in pain, that trying to talk was too much for him, but no, he was telling me to go to the damn zoo. Again. I bit down hard on my lip. He was fevered, he didn’t know what he was saying – or so I tried to tell myself, though deep down I knew that wasn’t the case.

  He’d talked about the damn zoo before he’d been bitten, after all.

  I chewed on the inside of my cheek. If I wanted to take the most direct route to the zoo, I had about a minute to make this decision. I glanced at Luke – he seemed to have lost consciousness. Get away from the zeds, find a place to park, get some medicine into him and Mike.

  I knew what I had to do. I turned down the road that skirted the south side of downtown and ended near the highway that ran into the city. There was a park situated off this road, just before it ended – and the zoo was part of that park. At the very least it was a wide-open space, a space that was hopefully empty. It was far too late to try breaching the fences at the zoo, but if we set up in the middle of the park we’d see anything that came our way. You’ll also be exposed. I knew as much, but I suppose I’d become so used to not being completely safe that I could accept the negatives of any situation…so long as there was at least one positive.

  Mercifully, we arrived at the park some time later and found that it was – for the most part, at least – empty. There were cars here and there, but so far as I could see, no people or zeds wandering about. The area where the zoo was located looked like nothing more than a black void, so I turned my car away from it and eased out onto one of the sports fields. It was overgrown, now, but my guess was that it had been used for soccer before this whole apocalypse thing happened.

  Joey parked the truck next to my car, close enough so that when we opened the front doors they nearly touched – it wasn’t the best barricade, but it was something to cover at least one angle of attack. "We’ll need one person on top of each vehicle. You take the truck – Lauren’s a good shot, and small enough to sit on top of my car. Daniel can keep an eye on Mabel and Holden. I’m the one who got the lowdown on these meds from the school nurse, so I guess I get to play caretaker."

  My brother snorted. "Such a fitting job for you."

  "Yeah, tell me about it. " I didn’t even have the energy to argue with him, especially not when I knew that he was right. Sick people had always made me uncomfortable, and the idea of dispensing medication was scary in its own right.

  I waited until Joey and Lauren were situated before reaching for my backpack and digging through it for the proper boxes. I had to turn the interior lights on in my car to see the labels, but finally I found the two that Mrs. Downing had pinpointed when I’d told her about Mike’s pneumonia and Luke’s ‘injury’. I tried to forget the way she’d looked at me – out of the corner of her eye, clearly not believing my story of a minor cut that had gotten infected. I had to believe that I could save Luke, though of course at this point my mother would have pointed out that I always had to believe that I could save everyone. "That’s my Charlie…always taking care of everyone and every thing except for herself," she used to say.

  But Luke was a part of me now. There was no denying that.

  Water bottles in hand, I shook Mike and Luke awake and pressed their respective meds on them. "You both need to drink a lot of water with these." I held out the water; Mike reached for his, but Luke pulled back.

  "Can’t drink more than we need to. Not until we find a place to replenish our supply," he croaked.

  "Oh no, don’t you dare. What you need to drink happens to be a lot more than usual, and that’s what you’re going to do. What was the point of us coming up here, of trying to find a way to help you, if you aren’t going to actually try to get better?"

  The only answer I got was Mike’s hacking cough, but then I heard him twist the cap off his water bottle and gulp it down. "Mike’s obeying me, at least," I pointed out.

  Luke sighed – or at least I hoped it was a sigh, and told myself that’s what it must have been. Because if it wasn’t, it was a long and ragged breath that didn’t sound human, causing my heart to thump hard in my chest until, after several moments, he finally took the other bottle from me. He fumbled with it, his bandaged hand stiff and clumsy, and though I itched to help him I also knew better than to try. We’d saved each other’s lives countless times, Luke and I – but we didn’t help each other. Not like that.

  We didn’t need to.

  The night felt long, but maybe that was because it was strangely uneventful. We could hear zeds nearby – at times their usual night sounds, and once the noise of a few of them stumbling around in the woods at the edge of the park – but they never appeared. Not that we could see.

  Somehow, that put me on edge more than if we’d spent those hours fighting the damn things.

  At the first hint of dawn – which was, thankfully, the glow of an actual sunrise forming on the horizon – we piled back into the truck and my car and left the field behind, turning back into the large parking lot and then following the winding road that led through the park to the zoo, which had been carved out of the hillside that separated the park from one of the city’s historical residential areas.

  I couldn’t help but cast anxious glances at both Luke and Mike. I thought that Mike looked and sounded a bit better, though I hoped that I wasn’t just being optimistic. Luke, however…he had a bit more color, perhaps, but his sleep had been restless and now that he was awake his eyes looked almost panicked.

  "We’re going to the zoo, just like you wanted. I’ve got a good feeling about this." I tried to smile but was certain it looked as forced as it was. Luke, for his part, merely grunted and leaned his head back. His breaths were deep and measured, but I could tell that this was because he was trying – hard – to control them.

  Eventually the truck and my car could go no farther driving side by side as we were. I threw on my parking brake and got out, nodding to Joey to follow me. It wasn’t light enough to see much here, where the trees leaned over the path to the zoo’s gates – but as we approached the
m, it was clear that someone had really battened down the hatches when everything went to hell.

  Joey and I exchanged a glance. "You think there’s still anyone here?" he whispered.

  I brushed my fingertips across the front of the giant padlock that held together the two ends of the long, heavy chain that was wrapped around the gate. After a moment of thought, I nodded.

  "What makes you so sure?"

  "At least some of the people who worked here would have truly cared about the animals." I paused, smiling wanly. I knew that Joey wouldn’t understand that like I did; he’d never been much of an animal person and obviously thought I was nuts for still having Holden with me now. "Combine that with the fact that this entire place is surrounded by walls and fences – most of which probably have razor or barbed wire worked in – and I’m telling you, someone would have stayed."

  "Smart girl. Now turn around and be on your way."

  It was a woman’s voice, low and gravelly and distinctly southern, and despite what I’d said to Joey about knowing that people must have stayed behind, it scared the shit out of me – figuratively, I mean – to actually hear someone speak up. Ever the peacemaker, my brother immediately raised his hands, palms out, while I – the warrior sibling – couldn’t help but drop my own hand to the butt of my gun.

  "I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I’ve got my own weapon and I will use it. So scram."

  Scram? I choked back a laugh. Who in the world was this person? "Listen – we don’t mean any harm. We’re a small group, we have a child with us, and two of our friends are sick. We tried the hospital and the school…we didn’t know where else to go." I knew there was a chance that I was giving this woman too much information, but I couldn’t even see her – she clearly had the upper hand, and maybe if I played to that…

  There was a long pause. I turned my head and listened, wondering if I was hearing things, or if there were indeed two voices now, both speaking far too quietly for me to understand what they were saying. This time, when someone finally responded to me, it was a man. "You won’t find any help here, either. This certainly isn’t a place for children and sick people."

  "Come on, Charlie – let’s just go." Joey was already backing away.

  "No," I hissed, but I did take a single step back from the gate and reluctantly raise my hands in supplication. "I guarantee there is something we can do for you. Several of us are better shots than you’ve probably ever met. One of our men is a hell of a tactician – "

  The woman interrupted me. "Shots. How many guns do you have?"

  Do they not have guns? That was it, then – the thing that we could offer them – but I also found myself wondering how they thought they could keep us at bay if they only had…what?

  "If you think we don’t have guns of our own, you’re mistaken." It was the man again, and although I was fairly certain that he was lying, I decided to humor him.

  "But you could always use more. The zeds – zombies, I mean – must give you trouble? Or…" I remembered the school, the fact that Dominic and Mrs. Downing had been so frightened of whoever was in control there, the fact that their leader had been conspicuously absent… "If you haven’t had problems with other people yet, I can almost guarantee you will, eventually – but not with us. Believe it or not, we’re the good guys."

  Silence. I let the seconds tick by; it must have been half a minute or more before I decided to once again mention where we’d been. "I’m not sure what’s going on at the school, but I got the feeling the people there are trouble. I’m telling you, if you haven’t had issues with them yet, you will."

  I could hear them arguing again and decided to let them finish. Joey was watching me intently, but I merely shook my head, slowly, and waited for a response.

  "Okay. We’re going to open the gate and bring you in for a chat – but you’ll leave your weapons with one of our men. We won’t suffer armed strangers in our presence," the man finally announced, sounding more than a little exasperated.

  Joey made a choking noise. "Go in there unarmed? Screw that."

  I shrugged. "Can’t be much worse than staying out here."

  "This is a one time offer – take it or leave it!"

  Sometimes, you just have to walk away. (Literally…or figuratively.)

  Chapter 7

  Taking Chances

  "We’ll take it," I agreed quickly, before Joey could interrupt me. "But you’ll need to let all of us in, and one of our men will stay with yours to keep an eye on our things."

  "You’re not really in a place to be setting terms. "

  "We’re not stupid enough to leave our weapons with one of your people and not watch them at all – so you’ll have to trust us at least that much. "

  "Fine. Get ready to pull your vehicles through the gates as soon as we open them. And know that if you step out with any weapons in hand, we will shoot you on sight."

  "Understood." I spun on my heel and jogged back to my car, Joey shuffling along behind me. I could tell that he was angry, but I didn’t have time to worry about that; Mike and Luke needed help, and at the moment it seemed to me like this was our last chance to find it for them.

  "What’s going on?" Mike mumbled as I climbed back into the driver’s seat and put my car in gear.

  I pasted a smile on my face. "We’re going in." I eased my Volkswagen toward the gate as a tall, slim, dark-haired man pulled it open. Joey had the truck so close to my bumper that I almost felt like tapping my brakes in warning – but then what would I do if he hit me? Something tells me there aren’t very many car repair shops open these days. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself.

  The man was shutting the gate before Joey even had the truck in park. "Stay in the car for now," I told the guys as I slowly pushed open my door and stepped out, hands in clear sight. I glanced to my left and saw Joey doing the same, and followed his gaze to the woman who had a gun trained on us. She was older than our mother by a good ten years or more – her hair was white, but she was standing straight and tall. Despite the weapon in her hands, she was smiling pleasantly.

  "Good morning, folks. I’m Virginia; he prefers to be called Richard." She jerked her head toward the dark-haired man. "The rest of your people going to get out and meet us, as well?" This was more an order than a question.

  "The two friends in there are sick." I jerked my head back toward my car.

  "I’ll get the others." Joey leaned back into his own vehicle. I couldn’t hear what he said, but Daniel’s expression was grim as he nodded. A moment later, he and Lauren and Mabel were climbing out of the truck.

  "Daniel there will be staying with our things," I announced. "I can get Mike and Luke out too, but they’re going to be a bit slow."

  "I’m not sure we want them in our facility if they’re…sick." Virginia grimaced. "They can stay in the car. Best warn them that if they make any move to get out, I’ll do what I have to do."

  I rolled my eyes. "We wouldn’t have come through your gates if I thought any of us would cause you trouble."

  "We’ll see about that. " The man who ‘preferred to be called Richard’ was standing in front of my car now. "Come with me."

  As we made our way down the wide but winding path, following it deeper into the zoo, I noted that most of the enclosures were overgrown, their residents – former residents? – nowhere to be seen. I remembered this zoo from before, though I’d only been once. I’d dragged Dave here for an after-hours craft beer festival, an event that had turned into another failed attempt at reviving our ‘dating life’.

  "Miss? Miss."

  I started, my eyes refocusing on Richard, and realized that I’d stopped walking. "Sorry," I mumbled. The man pursed his lips, but then turned and strode away again.

  Joey appeared by my side. "What the hell was that? Are you okay?"

  "Geez, I’m fine. Spaced out a bit for a moment thinking about the last time I was here."

  "You’ve been here before?"

  "Just once, a couple of years
ago. And it was…different."

  "Of course it was. There were other people here, maybe a lot of them. Families. Children." Joey’s tone was bitter.

  "Not just that. Take a look around. Shouldn’t a zoo have animals?" I kept my voice low, not wanting Richard – or Lauren and Mabel, who were following close behind – to hear me. Joey glanced around and nodded his head, once.

  "And…this is a small zoo, isn’t it?"

  "Oh yeah. He’s taking us on a pretty circuitous route."

  "What have we gotten into, Charlie?"

  I pressed my index finger to my lips and glared at my brother before whispering, "Maybe he doesn’t want us to see a certain area of the zoo, but that could mean any number of things."

  "Sure, and none of them good."

  Before I could respond, Richard beckoned to us and veered off to the right. By the time Lauren and Mabel caught up with Joey and I and we turned the corner together, Richard was holding open the door to a building that was almost entirely hidden by vines. I could hear the hum of a generator, but I still wasn’t ready for the harsh fluorescent lighting of what was clearly the zoo veterinarian’s office.

  "This was just my workplace, at one time. Now it’s the only home I have."

  It was the first thing this stranger had said that made him actually seem human. "You were the vet, then? " I couldn’t hide the relief that I felt, knowing that this man had actually been employed here. I knew that Joey was watching me, but I kept my eyes on Richard.

  "I was. Which means that I’ll be the one to take care of your friends…if we can come to an agreement."

  "Should we get down to business, then?"

  "In a few more minutes. I think you should have a better understanding of our situation before you make any promises to us. Let’s go have a seat; the third member of my team should be back soon."